The two agreed yesterday to buy the building from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association for more than $375 million, according to executives involved in the deal.

That is not how Teachers Insurance sees its building, whose plaza fills the east side of Park Avenue between 52d and 53d Streets.

Teachers Insurance, whose headquarters are at 730 Third Avenue, offers a pension system for the staffs of colleges, universities, private schools and other educational institutions.

Professors and academic administrators have long participated in the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

In 1963 he joined Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association in a position where he managed the firm's securities investments.

Some major leases were signed, however, by Divney Consulting and Teachers Insurance.

Teachers Insurance, in conjunction with the College Retirement Equities Fund, is the largest pension system in the nation.

It was purchased in March by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

In 1963 he became manager of securities investments for the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.

The company raised additional $10 million in capital in 2000 by selling equity to Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association.